Portable pressing table



July 14, 1953 o FREJ PORTABLE PREssING TABLE Filed Sept, 19, 1949 Patented July 14, Y,1953

UNITED .gl-STATES 4P-lrrsllfr ,OFFICE l Application September 19, 1949, Serial No. 116,603 In Denmark August 26, 1948 The present invention relates to a. pressing table having a cushioned perforatedsurface on which clothes are pressed. with employment of a damped pressing cloth that is applied between the clothes and the hot pressing iron., Y

More particularly, the invention relates vto lpressing tables of the kind in which thepressing ported on a frame, then exteriorly of the latter, ,A

These known pressing tables suffer from the serious drawback that they require too much space, and that the motor with the suction device connected thereto are likely to interfere with the clothes to be pressed and are also subject to damage when the pressing table is moved :from one piace to another in the room in which it is used.

It is essential for the universal and all round employment of a pressing table in larger and smaller tailors shops that the outer dimensions of the pressing table should be as small as p ossible, and that the table should occupy the smallest possible .floor area.

These requirements have not been sufliciently considered in the constructions of pressingtables so far in use. It is therefore desirable to construct a pressing table of the kind specified in such a manner that it has an outer configuration convenient for the operation thereof and also has a relatively low Weight so that it can easily be moved by a single person. Moreover, the pressing table should be simple to operate and should not present laterally projecting parts that might catch or strike other objects when the pressing table is moved, which is as a rule frequently done, particularly in rooms where a number of persons work and employ one and the same pressing table.

According to the present invention., in order to fulll the above mentioned requirements, the suction device and the electric motor operating same are mounted directly on the underside of the pressing table betweenlegsr supporting same,

the pressing table beingconstructed asa chamber with a perforated, cushioned top wall. Hereby it is obtained that the suction device and the electric motor do. not increase theV outer dimensions of vthe pressing table except .by determining the minimum height thereof. above the floonand'further the motor and the suction devicewillbe in a protectedposition.

.In an advantageous constructional form of a pressing table according to the invention, the suctionV devceis Vin the form of afan mounted in a recessed portion of the bottom wall of the pressing table, while. the motor is enclosed within alcasing in the form of a deep bowl mounted on the underside of 'the pressing table and provided in Aits-bottom wall with perforations through vwhich the mixture of steam and air exhausted fromfth'e said chamber by the suction device is passed'to the surrounding atmosphere.

To enable the operator to start or stop the said motor Awithout leaving the pressing table, it is advantageous to arrange a switch for this purpose on` thev pressing table itself, and this switch may suitably be constructed in such a mannerthat it can be operated by tiltingor lifting. the Apressingtable itself so that one of legs of the pressing table is lifted from the floor, whereby a rod mounted at one end of the pressing table is displaced and operates the switch when thesaid leg is` again applied to the floor, the switch being suitably constructed in i,such a Vmanner as toy be alternately opened andclosed by suchloperation. :The operator then just has to, lift andthen Vagain lower one of the .legs of .the pressing table vin order to close and open the feeding circuitoi" the motor. y ,I

The perforated, cushioned topsurface of the saidwchamber, thesteam .exhausting chamber,

may suitably Ibe, provided with kgrooves between theindividual ,perforations whereby it is obtained kkthat an yeiiicient Ysuction takes'place, not alone lthrough the portions of the cushioning or thef clothes applied thereto locatedimmediately above, the .perforations, but also through the portions of .the clothes located `above the grooves.

Thus, with a `given number of holes in the pressingsurfacethe suctionV area is increased and the fio wresistance to beovercome by the suction device consequently lowered, or, alternatively, with a certain ,.ow, resistance, the Ynumber of holes kmay be ,selectedV lower Y than kwould otherwise ,benpossiblei y The inventionnwill now beY described in further detail. with reference to the accompanyingdrawing in4 which,

. .Fig. 1` showsa longitudinal ,section one formv of an ironing board according to the 3 invention, taken along the line II-II of Fig. 2,

Fig. 2 an end View of same Fig. 3 a plan view of same, and

Fig. 4 a section through a detail of the ironing board, taken along the line III-II of Fig. l.

I is an elongated, substantially bulb-shaped hollow body consisting e. g. of a light metal alloy, and the top surface of which forms the pressing surface of a pressing table consisting of the said hollow body and three legs 2, 2 and 20 supporting same. The top surface of the hollow body is provided with a covering 3 of a heavy Woolen fabric held in position on the hollow body in known manner by means of a wire coil 40 sewn into a running stitch. The clothes to be pressed are applied to the surface of the covering, and in the pressing operations, use is made of a damp pressing cloth developing steam during the-pressing operation. This steam is exhausted through holes 4 in the top wall of the hollow body I by means of a fan 6 driven by an electric motor 5 and forming a suction device by means of which the steam developed during pressing is exhausted through the openings 4, and further through a central opening 1 in the bottom wall of the hollow body formed by the pressing table. The motor 5 is enclosed within an outer casing 8, consisting of a light metal alloy or another suitable material and fixed by means of screws 9 to a cylindrical ange I projecting from the underside of the pressing table and within which the fan is arranged. The motor is suspended on a supporting member II, Fig. 4, inserted in the flange I0 and xed to the latter by means of screws I2. The supporting member II has four radially inwardly directed projections I3 spaced at 90 and serving to support lugs I4 on the outer side of the motor casing, the said lugs I4 being each received in a groove in the inwardly facing side of an individual one of the projections I3, which grooves are cushioned with a vibrationdamping material I such as rubber as seen in Figs. 1 and 4.

When the screws are released, the supporting member I I may be withdrawn together with the motor and the fan 6, so that these parts become easily accessible, and the motor may be detached from the supporting member I I by turning the motor casing about the axis of the motor, as will be directly seen.

At the bottom end of the casing 8, holes I6 are provided through which the steam exhausted from the pressing table by means of the fan 6 and thence down through the casing 8 is passed to the surrounding atmosphere.

The motor 5 may be provided in known manner with a loose cable having a plug, by means of which the motor may be connected to a corresponding wall socket of an electric installation. For closing and opening the feeding circuit of the motor through such a movable cable, a conventional switch forming a part of the permanent installation may be used, but the closing and opening of the feeding circuit of the motor may also be effected by means of a special electrical switch I 1, Fig. 1, arranged inside the chamber formed by the hollow body I and controlled by means of a push rod I8 extending into the said chamber through one of the three legs of the pressing table. The switch I1 may suitably be of the known kind having a push button I9 for the operation thereof, and designed to be alternately closed and opened upon successive operations of the push button. The rod I8 extends through a tubular leg of the pressing table and is rigidly connected or integral with a foot 2| on which the said leg is supported when the table is in use. If this leg is slightly lifted from the floor, the rod I8 with the foot 2l are displaced away from the push button, and when the leg is then applied to the floor, the rod I8 is pushed inwards in the leg 20 and thereby acts on the push button I9 to operate the switch. If the end of the pressing table, at which the leg 20 is provided, is subsequently slightly lifted, the rod I8 will slide a distance out through the leg 20 and thereby away from the push button under the inuence of its gravity, if desired in combination with a spring (not shown), whereby the push button is permitted to move forwards through the casing of the switch, and when the considered end or corner of the pressing table is again lowered, so that the foot 2| again presses the rod I8 into the leg 20, the push button I9 is again displaced to operate the switch I'I so as to close or interrupt the circuit of the motor, as the case may be.

In the upper side of the hollow body constituting the pressing table, grooves 22 may be provided between the holes serving to exhaust the steam developed in the pressing operation. These grooves 22 form shallow passages connecting the outer ends of the said holes and thereby increasing the area on the upper side of the covering 3, through which the suction caused by the fan 6 acts on the clothes that are being pressed. Hereby it is obtained that the suction is effective on a larger area of the clothes, and that the resistance to the fiow of the steam is consequently reduced as compared with the resistance that would be present if the grooves were not provided.

I claim:

l. An ironing board comprising an elongated hollow body having a top wall and a bottom wall defining a cavity therebetween, a plurality of spaced apertures being formed in said top wall, an opening formed in said bottom wall, an electric motor arranged in a vertical position below said opening, an annular ange adjacent the circumferential edge of the said opening, a fan located within the space surrounded by said flange and attached to the shaft of said motor, a number of radially disposed spaced projectiens on the inner surface of said annular flange, a number of radially disposed lugs on the external circumferential face of said electric motor arranged each to engage one of the said projections within the said annular ange to support the motor on same, a groove in the inner face of each of the radially disposed spaced projections supporting the motor, arranged to receive an individual one of the lugs on the external surface of the motor, when the latter after having been brought to a position in which the lugs are received in the spaces between said projections, is turned about its axis, and a cushion of a vibration-damping material arranged in each of said grooves to bear against the adjacent faces of said projections and said lugs.

2. An ironing board comprising an elongated hollow body having a top wall and a bottom wall defining a cavity therebetween, a plurality of spaced apertures being formed in said top wall, an opening formed in said bottom wall, an electric motor arranged in a vertical position below said opening, an annular flange adjacent the circumferential edge of the said opening and extending inwardly as well as outwardly from said edge, a fan located within the space surrounded by said flange and attached to the shaft of said motor, a number of radially disposed spaced projections on the inner surface of the outwardly extending portion of said annular flange, a number of radially disposed lugs on the external circumferential face of said electric motor arranged each to engage one of the said projections within the said annular flange to support the motor on same, a groove in the inner face of each of the radially disposed spaced projections supporting the motor, arranged to receive an individual one of the lugs on the external surface of the motor, when the latter after having been brought to a position in which the lugs are received in the spaces between said projections, is turned about its axis, and a cushion of a vibration-damping material arranged in each of said grooves to bear against the adjacent faces of said projections and said lugs.

3. An ironing board comprising an elongated hollow body having a top wall and a bottom wall defining a cavity therebetween, a plurality of spaced apertures being formed in said top Wall, an opening formed in said bottom wall, an electric motor arranged in a vertical position below said opening, an annular flange adjacent the circumferential edge of the said opening and eX- tending inwardly as well as outwardly from said edge, a fan located Within the space surrounded by the portion of the said annular ange extending inwardly from the said opening and at- 6 tached to the shaft of said motor, a number of radially disposed spaced projections on the inner surface of the outwardly extending portion of said annular flange, a number of radially disposed lugs on the external circumferential face of said electric motor arranged each to engage one of the said projections within the said annular flange to support the motor on same, a groove in the inner face of each of the radialll7 disposed spaced projections supporting the mol tor, arranged to receive an individual' one of the lugs on the external surface of the motor, when the latter after having been brought to a position in which the lugs are received in the spaces between said projections, is turned about its axis, and a cushion of a vibration-damping material arranged in each of said grooves to bear against the adjacent faces of said projections and said lugs.

O'ITO FREJ.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,832,368 Ell Nov. 1'7, 1931 1,866,154 Ell July 5, 1932 2,029,112 Maitzen Jan. 28, 1936 2,176,324 Bretzlaff et al. Oct. 17, 1939 2,261,391 Koch Nov. 4, 1941 2,495,468 Mueller Jan.r24, 1950 

